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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: cold · bay · foot · court · dip · chip · bark · net

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  4. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  5. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  6. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  7. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. My mare is ________________ in color.
  12. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  13. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  14. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  15. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. court — for sport
  3. bay — to keep at bay
  4. chip — for betting
  5. foot — part of the body
  6. dip — to sink
  7. dip — a sauce
  8. net — after costs
  9. chip — to eat
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. bay — a horse colour
  12. dip — to dunk
  13. bay — a part of the sea
  14. foot — a measure
  15. chip — in a computer
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. foot — the bottom
  18. net — in sport
  19. bark — to shout
  20. cold — an illness
  21. net — for catching
  22. court — of law
  23. court — of a king
  24. bark — of a tree

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com